Fate's End
by Cloud802
Summary: Illya's life was short, she knew that. She had come to terms with it. If her death could save the others from what was happening, then what was there to lose?/ Sequel to Fate's Game. Shirou/Saber/Rin
1. Chapter 1

**Fate's End**

Illyasviel von Einzbern was as happy as she could be. She had a new family, something she was actually willing to fight for. She had a new home, and didn't have to worry about spending nights alone in her large mansion. Her maids were not exactly the best company, which was a shame. She would always miss her parents, despite everything that had happened, but she knew that wherever they were they would be proud of her and Shirou.

Even though she only had a few years left to live at the most, she was still happy.

The winter months were approaching once more, and she wanted to be sure that the person who saved her short life was ready.

She sat with her legs crossed under the kotatsu, her project sitting before her as the news anchor talked about boring things on the TV.

The front door opened and a grocery bag was set down. "Hey there kiddo," said Taiga, shutting the door behind her. "Whatcha got there?"

"Just a winter cap. I'm having trouble figuring out how to knit."

Taiga laughed. "Maybe I can help you out with that."

Illya raised an eyebrow as Taiga sat down across from her. Taiga, knitting? Illya bit her bottom lip, refraining from a sarcastic remark. She knew if she said something now Taiga would smack her right upside the head. Better to not anger such a violent person.

"I guess it couldn't hurt to have some help," muttered Illya.

Taiga's face lit up, "Alright! That's the spirit!"

Taiga started to prattle on and on about different knitting techniques and tricks. Illya could hardly understand what she was talking about. She found herself staring out the window and noticed it was snowing. The slow fall sticking to the ground mesmerized her. It reminded her of Kiritsugu and Berserker. She must have had a melancholy look on her face, because Taiga had fallen silent.

"Hey, you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah. Just... thinking about the past."

Taiga sighed and leaned forward, resting her hands on the table. "Shirou is a lot like him, ya know."

Illya looked up at her.

"I know he wasn't exactly the best person at first, but... he tried."

Illya felt her eyes swell up a bit, but held back from crying. It had been a long time, and she had shed enough tears. Shirou had given her another chance, and it would be a shame if she wasted the precious time she had left crying over things that happened in the past.

"Hey, Illya. If you ever want to talk about anything, we're all here for you."

"Thank you." Illya nodded softly.

Yes, she was thankful.

 **Chapter 1: A Normal Life  
**

It had been six months since the final grail war. Saber's connection to Shirou was solidified thanks to his training as a magus, and things were finally at a restful pace.

If one could call constant training, schoolwork, housework, and little to no sleep restful. Shirou supposed it was better than constantly being on the run from one servant or another. Today was a Sunday, which meant no school, luckily. He also had not fallen asleep in the shed, which was a good start to the morning. That particular occurrence had been happening a lot less ever since Rin started to teach him personally.

'No offense Dad, but Rin is a much better teacher than you,' he thought as he sat up from his futon.

"Oh, Senpai. Good morning." Sakura had just entered his room with a trey in her hands, shutting the door quietly behind her. "Where's Saber?"

Shirou looked around himself, then let out a yawn, "Must have gotten up before me."

Sakura smiled, "Well, today is your day off, so she probably went to the dojo by herself." She stepped forward.

"Breakfast in bed huh? What's the occasion?"

Sakura's cheeks went red, "Erm... you work so hard, and I uh..."

"Thanks."

"Have you um... given thought to whether or not you want to go to college?" she asked timidly, setting the tray down by him and stepping back.

"I was thinking about going to Clock Tower."

Sakura nodded, "Ah, I suppose that would..." she paused, then her eyes widened when she fully processed what he had said. "Cl... Clock Tower?"

"Yeah. It's like the headquarters and school for mages, isn't it? I bet they have all sorts of interesting stuff there."

"That means you'd be going to London." Sakura brought a hand to her chest and looked down.

"Just for a couple years at the most. Rin offered. Saber and Illya are coming with us if I decide to do it. I want to find a way to extend Illya's life while I'm learning."

Sakura shuddered, "Hopefully not one that involves insects or worms."

Shirou almost gagged. "Ugh, you make me food and then bring that up?"

"S... sorry." Sakura sighed and sat down next to him. "Maybe I could come too. I'm a mage so I would qualify. I imagine Sensei would be lonely with everyone gone, though."

"It's up to you. I'm still deciding whether or not I should graduate before we go. If I end up being a professional magus Rin says High School wouldn't even matter. You sure you'd want to just drop out like that?"

She nodded, "I'm pretty sure it would be for the best. I'll make sure to think about it, though. With you and Rin there... I'm sure magic would stop being so frightening." Images of a black tendril dress and worms assailed her thoughts. She shook them off before continuing. "I'm thinking that learning some normal magic might help me cope."

"Cope?"

She nodded. "Up until now it's all been terrible. Everything with the Matous using magic to try and change me. The Holy Grail's corruption, and when I did those awful things. My experience with magic hasn't been healthy. You and Rin used it to save me, though. So if I give it a try on my own terms, I'm sure I'd see the better side of it."

"You don't have to push yourself."

"I know. I'll give it some thought. You should eat that before it gets cold." She stood and dusted her skirt off. "I still have some cleaning up to do before I can relax for the day. Enjoy your breakfast."

"Thanks, I will."

* * *

Rin sat at the desk in her room, shuffling through her mail. Ordering forms for more jewels, letters from Clock Tower she would rather ignore. She stopped when one caught her eye. It was not a normal envelope like the others. It had a flowery design on the edges, and was sealed with wax. Rin took a look at the seal. A small Mockingbird. After seeing the gaudy design and seal Rin didn't even have to look at the return address to know who had sent her this. "What could that dumbass want that would be worth sending me a letter?"

Only one way to find out.

She pulled the seal open and tore the letter from the confines of the envelope.

'Dear Worthless Commoner,

I tried to convince Renaldo that you weren't worth the family seal, but you know how he gets.'

Rin's eyebrow twitched. Was that any way to start a letter? "I'm gonna kill this bitch." She growled to herself.

'I just figured you should know that the books you requested on biology, life magic, and homonculi are on the way. Consider the speedy request process a repayment for your actions a few months ago. Let it never be said that Luviagelita Edelfelt does not repay her debts, even to distasteful persons. Oh, and tell your boyfriend I said hi. We hardly got to talk the last time I was there, and he was rather dashing, if I do say so myself.'

The letter was signed with her disgustingly fancy signature, and another copy of her family symbol, this time in ink.

Rin crumpled it in her hands, gritting her teeth, trying not to scream curses at the walls of her room. It proved quite a feat.

After a few minutes of deep breaths her rage had subsided and she rolled her eyes, leaning back in her chair. 'I'm glad we don't have to wait for those books, but what's Luvia's game here?' she thought, bringing a hand to her chin. 'Why would she pull strings to help me? It's not like I saved her life or anything, I just let her use my notes. Is that really worth going through all that red tape?'

A knock sounded on her door, interrupting her thoughts. "It's open."

The door slid to the side, revealing her sister, "Good morning Nee-san."

"Ah, Sakura, just who I was hoping to see. I have to tell you something."

"Is it about Clock Tower?"

Rin raised an eyebrow, "Yeah... how did you know?"

Sakura smiled, "Shirou told me."

"Oh you've gotta be..." she bit her bottom lip, "That big blabbermouth!"

"I was actually thinking of coming with you."

Rin paused, then she stood from her chair and smiled so brightly that Sakura thought she was a different person for a moment. "That would be great!" She stepped forward and grabbed Sakura's hands. "There's so much you'll like about Clock Tower. The higher ups can be prudish and pretty dumb sometimes, but the knowledge you have access to, and the architecture is GORGEOUS!"

"I... I'm glad you're excited."

Rin wrapped her arms tightly around Sakura, "I was hoping we would all go."

Sakura returned the hug and smiled, "I'm honestly worried about Taiga-sensei though."

"Urk." Rin stepped back from the hug, "Come to think of it, without you and Shirou here cleaning up after her mess..."

"Please don't make me imagine it," mumbled Sakura.

* * *

Shirou stepped into the dojo. As he slid the door shut behind him he saw Saber with a wooden sword, doing some normal practice. Or at least as normal as practice could be for the king of Britain. He stepped to the side and sat against the wall, watching her movements. Her hair was loose, a habit that formed after Shirou off handedly said that she looked good with her hair down.

'Even her armor is white now, and it looks more like a dress,' he thought.

It seemed Saber was starting to get more comfortable with her feminine qualities. A far cry from the girl who was embarrassed to admit she was a girl. Shirou guessed that came with the territory of being raised to be king instead of queen. A queen in Britain held a lot of political clout back then, but it would be strange for her to march into battle and it would probably effect morale.

That would explain why she decided to be a king instead.

"Hello Shirou," she said, turning and giving him a warm smile. "You should be resting, it's your day off."

Shirou nodded, "I am. I came here to watch you."

Saber's face went red. She was used to training with Shirou, but having him just sit there and watch her...

She walked over to him, shoving her embarrassment aside as she hung up the wooden sword and sat next to him. "It's a beautiful day," she said softly, "Illya said she wanted to make a snowman, perhaps we should assist her."

"That sounds fun."

"Have you decided?" she asked.

"On what?"

"Whether or not you'll be going to Clock Tower."

"The answer to that is probably yes. Rin is a great teacher, but we can only do so much without having access to the knowledge of other magi. Not to mention..." Shirou gazed out the window at the snow slowly falling.

"Illya?"

Shirou nodded. "Yeah... Rin said she ordered some material that could help us, but who knows how long that'll take? If we have access to that pool of knowledge, and maybe even make a friend or two that could help us, it wouldn't be so out of reach."

"Figuring out she was a vessel for the grail must have hit you pretty hard."

"You saw what it did to Sakura. Illya kept talking about being a homunculus like it's no big deal, but I can tell that it makes her sad."

"Well," said Saber, leaning onto Shirou's shoulder and smiling, "She is your sister, even if it's only by adoption. It makes sense that you'd want to give her a full life."

They stayed like that for a while, silently appreciating each other's company.

After about ten minutes the door slid open once more. "Ahem!"

They both looked up to see Rin with a smug smile on her face, "Am I interrupting?" she asked coyly.

Saber pouted, moving away from Shirou and leaning back against the wall.

"What's up?" asked Shirou.

"Oh no, don't mind me," said Rin, covering her mouth with her hand, "Please do continue. I want to see where this goes. Maybe I can join in."

"Rin!" shouted Saber.

"Okay okay. No need to get mad. Those books I ordered that might help us with Illya are on the way here. Should be here in a day or two."

"Wait," said Shirou, "I thought you said it would take a month at best."

Rin nodded, "I did, but having friends in high places helps, even if those friends are annoying." She gritted her teeth and looked to the side. Luvia was technically her friend, she supposed. They had helped each other on more than one occasion. 'If only she could do something about her attitude... and those gross tube curls,' she thought.

"This is great!" shouted Shirou, sitting up with a big smile.

"Don't celebrate just yet. I don't know anything about Homonculi. Once we have the materials we need we should also check Illya's old place. Who knows what kind of knowledge we'll find there? Creation of a grail, maybe even how to sustain it. It could help greatly."

Once again, the door slid open, this time to reveal Illya. "You won't find much," she said.

Rin turned to her, her eyes widening, "Illya, we were just... uh..."

Illya smiled, "Talking about how to extend my life. I know." She was holding something behind her back. "I thought about it a lot too, but my specialty isn't biology, it's the mind. I also didn't have anyone to help me before aside from Sella and Leysritt. They're homunculi as well, but since I didn't know much about the process, who knows how long they'll last?"

"It's okay," said Shirou, "We'll find a way to help all of you."

Illya grinned, "Careful Onii-chan. That never give up attitude is what makes girls flock to you. Having more competition would be a shame."

Rin's brow twitched, 'This little...'

Saber edged closer to Shirou again, wrapping an arm around him and glaring at Illya.

Illya simply giggled and skipped towards them, pulling whatever was behind her back out to show them. It was a knitted winter cap. "Here," she said softly, handing it to Shirou, "This will keep your ears warm."

"Thanks. Did you make it yourself?"

"Uh huh!"

'Am I hearing things, or did Saber just growl?' thought Shirou.

* * *

Night had fallen over the city a few hours prior, and Shiki found himself waiting in front of some random seedy bar at the request of a strange letter that arrived at the mansion with no return address. He hadn't come alone, of course. To do so after everything that happened would be foolish, to say the least.

"So... what exactly are we doing here?" asked his would-be bodyguard/vampire.

"Interesting question, Arc."

"So not even you know." She pouted and shoved her hands into her pockets, leaning against the wall. "Well you can't go into the bar."

"I know that!"

Arcuied grinned, "Ooof, a bit touchy about that, are we?"

"Could you just keep an eye out?"

"Hey, how come you get to mess with me all the time, but every time I try to return the favor you go all stone cold? Not fair at all!"

Before Shiki could reply a man entered their vision across the street. He began crossing and walking towards them.

Arc went quiet, "Careful," she whispered. "I didn't sense his presence until we saw him."

As he approached, neither Arc nor Shiki could get a close look at his face. It appeared to be hidden in the darkness itself, but they could tell he was not wearing a hat or hood. His body was covered with a large trench coat. "Shiki Tohno." The voice was booming and deep. It felt like it made Shiki's entire being vibrate with its tone.

Shiki's hand grasped the knife in his pocket, and he could see Arc spreading out into a stance through his peripherals. "That's me. What do you want?"

"Odd. A killer of supernatural beings relying on one of them."

Shiki's eyes narrowed, "You seem to know an awful lot about me. How come I don't know anything about you?"

"You will, but not now." The man reached into his pocket and produced something. Three tickets. "Use these to travel to Fuyuki City. I will meet you there."

"Who's the third ticket for?" asked Arc.

"The oni."

Shiki raised an eyebrow, "Oni?"

"Your sister," replied the man. Suddenly, the man's head snapped to look behind him, "I should go," he said after a moment. "I suggest you both do the same. Do not leave the oni behind. You will need her."

Then, just as quickly as he had appeared, he was gone.

"Arc, did you see which way he went?"

She shook her head, "No. Then again I'm still not at full capacity over here. Maybe another month or two and I'll be back to the way I was. He must have a lot of power to be able to mask his presence like that though, even if I'm still weakened."

Shiki looked around, then shrugged with a sigh. "We should get going. Whoever that was they looked jumpy about something, and I don't wanna stick around."

"Kay."

"We need to tell Akiha about this."

"Ugh. You do the talking. I'll just be here if you need me."

- **Clock Tower** -

Gregori leaned back in his oak chair, taking a deep breath. His room was lined with full book shelves, and barely lit from the candle on his desk. A lot of the places in Clock tower were gloomy like this, but his room was at the top of the list. He had locked his door so no one would disturb him until the next hearing.

Lillian had meddled into his affairs for far too long.

Even if he were to be removed from his position he would make sure she paid dearly.

"Master."

Gregori looked up, "Ah. Yvette. I did not hear you enter. You are making considerable progress."

The woman, Yvette, was barely lit by the candle light. Her face was thin and pale. Her hair long and red.

"Is it ready?" she asked.

"Not quite. Though the test run we did a few months ago seemed to shake things up a bit. Tell the council I will be ready for the next hearing on the morrow."

"I see."

Gregori grinned, "I'm sure Lillian and Tohsaka will appreciate your gift."

Yvette let out a soft giggle, "Yes, I'm sure they will."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Homonculus**

WHAP!

"Please don't fall asleep Onii-chan," said Illya, smiling sweetly as she tapped the ruler on her hand. "This is important knowledge if you hope to extend my life."

A couple of days later the Emiya living room had been converted to a small classroom at the behest of Illya. The kotatsu was still present. However, in between it and the kitchen was a small chalkboard that Illya could reach. Shirou, Rin, and Saber all sat at the kotatsu, Shirou being on the closest side.

He rubbed the back of his head and frowned, "You didn't have to hit me."

"Rin Onee-chan was right. You're really bad at this."

"Sorry, I'll try to pay better attention."

"Very well." She turned to the chalkboard and pulled some chalk from the small shelf on it. After a few minutes of drawing she turned to face them once more. "This!" She slammed the ruler against the chalkboard, "Is a normal human being with a magic circuit. A human with the potential to use magic is a force to be reckoned with."

The drawing she had created was the chalk outline of a person with many lines running through it, almost like a nervous system, but with much less detail. Illya brought the ruler to her chin, "To make this easier to understand for Onii-chan, who has yet to master magic, we'll use an arbitrary measurement. An Ohm will do nicely." Illya turned and wrote another item on the board.

10 Ω.

"Ah I get it," said Shirou immediately. "The average magus has about that output of power, right?"

Illya grinned, "Not really, a mage's power is far more than this, but for the sake of the lesson we'll say that yes, this is the power output of an average mage."

Rin frowned and looked to Saber, who, for her part, seemed very interested in Illya's impromptu lesson. 'Does no one else find it strange that her character changes like this?' she thought.

"Now." Illya turned once more to the board to create another drawing. Another few minutes passed, and when she turned back around a figure much like the one before, except with many more nerves was drawn. "This is a homonculus." More writing next to the new figure.

100 Ω.

Shirou's eyes widened, "Wow, ten times the power, and many more magic circuits."

"Correct," she said.

Rin raised her hand.

"Yes Rin Onee-chan."

"I'd just like to add something," said Rin. "Homunculi have so much power because they are built to be walking magic circuits. In a way, they're connected to the very Earth that they walk. In theory, a well built homunculus is immortal."

"If only we lived in such a perfect world," said Illya with a sigh. "Which brings us to our third exhibit." She turned and spent another few minutes drawing. When she was done she set the ruler down, and her face lost its edge of playfulness. "This is me."

The third drawing was shorter, and Shirou couldn't tell where the chalk outline ended and where the drawn 'nerves' began. Next to it was written another measurement.

100,000 Ω.

The room was dead silent.

"I'm special," she said, bluntly. "Normally, homunculi are created through an almost scientific process. It's a lot like artificial insemination. The sperm is artificially created, and planted in a womb. Sometimes it can be a woman's womb, but most of the time this part is magically created as well. From the beginning I was different. They used the sperm of a powerful magus, which was magically altered, and then given to my mother. As I grew in the womb I imagine I was subject to all sorts of nasty experiments."

Rin frowned, " A homunculus with a father and mother... where are they now?" Illya frowned and her gaze fell, and Rin brought a hand to her mouth. "S... sorry. I won't bring it up again."

"After I was born, the Einzbern family groomed me to be the vessel for the holy grail in the fourth war. When that failed, they used me as a master in the fifth, and linked me with Berserker. I imagine that the extended family is none to pleased about me residing here... if Frederick was any indication."

"Wait," said Shirou. "Rin said that homunculi are supposed to be pretty much immortal if they're created right, so why are you..." he let the sentence hang, not quite able to bring himself to say it.

Illya did it for him. "Dying? To put it into its simplest terms, I was not built to survive past the fifth grail war. Once my job was done..." she slid a finger across her throat, "It was game over."

Saber's eyes narrowed, "Despicable. Such atrocities..."

"So," said Rin, "we need to modify your body again."

Illya nodded, "That would be the simplest solution. The main problem being that it's unprecedented to modify the body of a homunculus after its creation. Especially one as unique as me. I am not looking forward to facing the scalpel again, so it would be nice if we could get it right the first time."

Shirou gritted his teeth, "But that's... They tore you apart, and now you want us to do the same thing?!"

Illya stepped forward and fell onto Shirou, wrapping her arms around him. "This is different," she said, softly. "If it's you..." Her hands gripped his shirt, tightening as she buried her face further into his chest. "I know I might die Onii-chan, but if it's even a slim chance, then..."

Shirou returned the hug. "Illya."

* * *

Shirou sat alone in his room, cross legged and facing the door. He sat for a long time, staring, thinking. "Damn," he punched the ground. "I can barely manage a simple Gandr curse. What the hell am I supposed to do against this?"

His only strong points at the moment were his projections and his reality marble. Everything else was under heavy work. No matter how quick a study he may have been in the arts of magic, that didn't change the fact this Illya was living on borrowed time.

A knock sounded at his door. "Shirou, may I come in?"

It was Saber.

Shirou sighed, "Yeah."

The door slid open and Saber stepped past the threshold. Without a word, she walked to his side and sat next to him on her knees. "You can talk to me," she said sternly, turning her gaze towards him.

Shriou took a deep breath. "Saber. I know I don't normally ask details about your life before we met, but..."

"But?"

"You were a warrior, you fought in a lot of battles. You're not a doctor or a mage or anything like that. We can protect each other and have each other's backs in a fight, but what can we do when someone's being eaten away from the inside? Have you ever been unable to do something?"

Saber turned her gaze ahead, looking thoughtful for a moment. "I led a march on the Saxons after they had occupied a small village. Lancelot was with me that day. By that point I was used to battle, and had seen my fair share of blood. It never really affected me the same way as other people, not even the men of the round table. The battle wasn't decisive, it was just a small skirmish. However, I felt it was my duty to defend my people. It was early in the war, so I was getting, at most, five hours of sleep on the nights before travel or fighting..."

 **-Britain: 519 AD-**

"Look ahead, there." Lancelot stopped his horse and pointed over the horizon.

Arturia halted her steed as well, doing as Lancelot instructed. The field was awash with flame, and in the center of it with a handful of small roads leading out, was a village. Even though it was far away , she could hear the screams of her people from where she was.

"We must go now," she said. "Gather the men, I will ride ahead."

"But..."

She turned a stern gaze towards him, "Lancelot, trust me."

After a moment, he nodded, "Very well. Be careful Arthur."

She was still getting used to the name, but now was not the time to let such trifling things bother her.

With a kick, her horse sped forward. She knew that every second she wasted deliberating, more people were dying. Lancelot would be right behind her with their unit. He was always quick about such things.

As she drew closer to the village she started being able to make out shapes. There were at least a hundred soldiers in the village. A few of the buildings were lit ablaze, and she could see people desperately trying to escape, only to be stopped by the enemy's sword.

She gritted her teeth, "Faster," she said quietly, kicking her horse again. "Faster!"

At the entrance to the village there were three guards stationed. They all saw her at the same time and pointed, yelling in their strange tongue.

Arturia set a hand on the handle of Caliburn.

The horse approached at breakneck speed.

The guards stood at the ready, raising their swords as Arturia closed in on them with the fury and speed of a wild storm.

Arturia pulled at the reigns with her left hand, causing the horse to dig in its feet and skid to a stop.

She leapt from the horse, and the guards gazed up in awe as she drew her sword mid air.

She landed in front of the guard on the far right. He tried to react, but Arturia was much too fast. He was cut down before he could scream.

The other guards balked when they realized that they had not even seen her swing her sword.

They too, fell to the ground dead before they could react.

Arturia stepped past the gate of the village, alone. She turned her head to look behind her, and saw a large group of horses approaching, followed by a group of infantry much further back. 'Good,' she thought, 'Even with my skill a hundred men would overwhelm me.'

Another group of Saxons started to approach her position.

Apparently the ruckus had not gone unnoticed.

She counted ten men, they all circled around her, shouting and screaming.

Half of them charged her at the same time, only to be cut down in the blink of an eye.

More shouting, even more men.

Arturia knew if she stood her ground she would die.

She bent her knees as twenty more men charged her with battle cries, and kicked from the ground before their swords could connect.

She landed on the roof of one of the burning buildings, covering her mouth and trying not to cough.

'I can't use my swords full power, not with civilians still around. I have to hold out for Lancelot,' she thought. 'I could lure them to the opposite side of the village easily, but then whoever has survived this slaughter would be caught in their path again.'

Arturia looked around for other options, but when she couldn't find any she clucked her tongue. "Damn it all!"

The burning building beneath her would have to suffice. The roof was thatched with wood, easy access as far as she was concerned. With a powerful stomp, a hole about the size of her leg was created.

She could hear more yelling as the soldiers attempted to climb up to where she was.

'Not good.'

She pulled her leg free and stomped again, making the hole larger, but not large enough to slip through.

Another stomp, and Arturia felt gravity snatch her from her spot on the roof.

She fell hard onto the wooden ground below her. The building was presumably one of the houses in which the villagers lived.

A shrill scream sounded through the house when she landed.

Looking around for the source, she saw a little girl holding a small doll in her hands, coughing as she struggled to breathe through the smoke and the encroaching inferno. She was hiding under a half broken table, trying desperately to survive.

Arturia's eyes widened.

Her plan had been to funnel the enemy through the doorway as long as she could, but this girl...

Before she could act, the door to the building had been kicked in and several men had already piled in.

She leapt to her feet and skewered the first one in with her sword. Pulling it out she decapitated another.

But then she heard the crunch of wood behind her, and another shrill scream being cut short, followed by a gurgle she could barely hear over the inferno. Her eyes widened, and she turned to see the little girl being run through by one of the Saxons, blood dripping from her mouth and eyes widened in fear.

She felt cold steel punch through her armor and pierce the skin of her shoulder. She turned back to the soldier that had stabbed her, and gritted her teeth through the pain as she kicked him away. plunging her sword into his neck.

She turned once more, and pounced the man that had killed the little girl, lunging through him with Caliburn.

Just like he had done to the little girl.

He fell to the floor, and Arturia could hear the sounds of fighting outside.

Clashing steel and bodies, screaming and yelling.

Even over all of that she could hear the little girl cough.

Arturia stepped over to her and fell to her knees. She reached forward and gently pulled the girl onto her lap.

The girl coughed. "I'm... scared."

"Shhh." Arturia stroked her hair. "It's alright. The Knights of the Round Table are here with their allies."

"R... really?"

"Yes. They are fighting outside right now." She coughed through her words as soot and smoke entered her lungs, but she dare not leave.

At least not yet.

It was a bit easier to breathe with the door open, and it appeared that most of the fire was on the roof and in the back end of the house.

Arturia turned her gaze towards the door and breathed in, trying her best not to cough.

She began to hum a slow lullaby that she still remembered from her childhood. Something her father used to calm her on stormy nights.

The girl reached up and weakly grabbed the free hand that was wrapped around her. Her eyes shut, and Arturia felt her breathing slow.

And then, eventually, she was still.

Arturia bit her bottom lip, fighting back the tears she could not allow to spill forth.

She stood, gently picking up the girl's body and walking outside.

As she emerged she saw that the Saxons had already been pushed back in a few minutes of battle. More fighting would occur before the village was completely reclaimed, but it appeared that it would be an easy victory.

Through the chaos, Lancelot had run up to her, "Arthur! The Saxons have set up a..." He paused mid sentence, going deathly quiet as he saw the girl's body, and Arturia's wound.

Arturia stared at Lancelot, her gaze narrow and stern, betraying none of the grief she had felt in the house she had just emerged from.

However, the little girl she was carrying in her arms betrayed her emotions more than any expression ever could.

"Continue," she commanded.

Lancelot hesitated, but did as he was told. "The Saxons have set up a blockade on the other end of town. They have no artillery, but there is a calvary unit with them."

Arturia nodded, "Very well. Tell the men to gather at the center of the village. We will organize one more time and push them out."

"As you command."

Lancelot did not mention the girl, even when Arturia was still carrying her.

He did not mention her when Arturia buried her at the edge of town.

He did not mention her when they were fighting.

He did not mention her when the Saxons had been pushed from the village.

And he did not mention her when they camped for the night.

However, he knew all too well what his king felt at that moment. Therefor, there was no need to talk about it.

* * *

"I never told anyone else about that little girl, but I can't seem to shake that memory. It's laughable is it not?" Saber smiled sadly. "We pushed the Saxons from the village that day, but for the first time since I had started fighting I noticed it..."

"Noticed what?"

"For every man, woman, and child that thanked us, there was one crying. For every gift and every word of adulation, there was a dead body. For the rest of my life I carried that weight. It became easier to deal with over time, but I never forgot that a sword can only save so much."

"Is that why you wanted to go back using the Holy Grail?"

She nodded, "Part of the reason. Isn't it childish? Merlin probably would have scolded me. 'Now child, I gave you fair warning when you pulled that old heap of metal from that ugly rock!'" she mimicked his voice with a soft laugh.

A moment of silence followed, and then she reached out with her right hand and intertwined it with Shirou's. "That changed when I met you," she said. "Even though I know I can't save everyone, that thought doesn't bother me anymore."

"Yeah," said Shirou with a firm nod, "Same here."

"But it's different with Illya, isn't it?"

"Yeah..."

"Shirou, you're in here beating yourself up over the fact that you don't know how to extend her lifespan." She turned towards him completely, bringing her left hand to his cheek. "You're forgetting something important. We're all here to help. Me, Rin, even the one who this affects the most, Illya. When I was King I did not let anyone see who I really was, and that brought my downfall. I thought I had to be a machine. I may have... took Merlin's advice a bit too literally, and in the end I paid the price.

"It's different with you. You have friends, a support structure, and..." she blushed lightly, letting her gaze fall, "You have me."

"Saber..."

He leaned in to kiss her, running a hand through her hair.

* * *

"One dash of salt..."

Rin leaned over the bowl full of jewels and a mixture of various elements on her desk, pinching some salt into it and frowning, "Hmmm." She turned back to the newly acquired book on homunculi and scratched her head, "Wait, that's not right..."

Tracing a few lines down, she saw it.

"GAH! I forgot the chlorine!"

She fell into her chair and let out a deep sigh, bringing both her hands to her face.

"I am the worst mage on the planet! I can't even buy all the ingredients right!"

A knock sounded at her door. "Nee-san, is everything okay?"

"Erm... yeah!"

"Oh... may I come in?"

"Sure."

Sakura opened the door, stepping in and shutting it behind her. "Is there something you're having trouble with?"

"I can't figure out a simple formula for this spell, but the worst part is the jewels it takes." She glared at the bowl. "If I didn't want to reserve my mana this wouldn't cost so much money." She growled to herself, tipping the bowl's contents on to the desk. "Making homunculi seems to be more of an art than a science, and I can't even figure out the basic spell to create a low level artificial sperm! This is the third time I've had to go into town."

Sakura's face immediately went red, "Th... that's what you're trying to do?"

"Well, yeah. I mean it won't be anything to call home about, but unless I can get the basics down how are we gonna figure out how to modify Illya?"

"Right," Sakura frowned and tried to look anywhere but Rin.

Rin raised an eyebrow, then noticed her face was red. She smirked, "Oh hooo~. Whatever is the matter, Sakura?"

"N... nothing, nothing at all!"

Rin grinned. "Come on, if you're gonna be a mage you have to learn to deal with this stuff. Well..." she looked at the ingredients on her desk, "With you it's gonna be more your main elemental affinity, mind stuff, maybe some healing, and since you're my sister you'll probably be really good at conversion." She sighed and leaned back in her chair, "This stuff really isn't my strong suit, though. I kinda wish we had access to a specialist, but that might not come until we go to Clock Tower, and asking the Einzberns for help is right out."

"Hmm," Sakura brought a hand to her chin, "Maybe you should take a break." She grabbed Rin's hands, pulling her up out of the chair. "I'll cook some lunch."

"But..."

"No buts," said Sakura sternly, poking her in the forehead, "Now come on."

* * *

The train pulled into the station late.

Luviagelita Edelfelt did not like being late. She checked her phone for the time once more. Two PM, still plenty of time to get where she needed to go. As the doors opened and the crowd milled around her to get off the train the announcer's voice sounded over the train's speakers.

 _"Now arriving in New Fuyuki. Please watch your step."_

Luvia smirked, stepping from the train with a slight skip in her step.

She was excited to see Shirou again, the only problem being that Rin was still attached to him like a parasite. She would cross that bridge when she came to it, though.

As she walked through the crowd she bumped into someone.

"Oof."

Something clattered out of her bag, probably her makeup box.

"Sorry," said the boy she bumped into, "Wasn't watching where I was going."

"Oh, think nothing of it," she said with a soft laugh.

The boy crouched down and picked up her makeup box, sorting the few contents that had fallen out of it and handing it back to her, "Here." He adjusted his glasses as she took them.

"Thank you."

'I had forgotten how polite the Japanese are,' she thought to herself.

"Yo, Shiki!" About ten feet away in the crowd, Luvia saw a rather short woman with sandy hair and, of all things, red eyes.

'Odd,' she thought.

"Please keep your voice down," said a black haired girl standing next to her.

The waving girl stuck her tongue out at the one who had made the polite request, "I wasn't talking to the little sister."

"I should get going," said Shiki. "Sorry about the trouble."

"It was no trouble at all," she said, waving her hand out as if to discard the statement.

As he ran to the two girls Luvia smiled, "What an interesting band of misfits," she whispered to herself, turning to walk out of the station.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Past Heartaches**

Saber and Illya sat across from each other in the Emiya living room. On the table between them was the tea set Illya had one of her maids bring from the mansion. Illya dared not go back, not after everything that had happened, but she felt that she could at least bring a small piece of her old home with her.

Shirou, Sakura, Rin, and Taiga had already left for school. Winter break was right around the corner, but it seemed they still had their obligations.

Saber simply stared at the girl in front of her.

'Everything has been so hectic,' she thought. 'I haven't really paid much attention to it before now, but she's the spitting image of Iri.'

Illya smiled, picking up her tea cup and taking a sip, "Is something the matter, Saber?'

Saber balked, "No... it's nothing. It's just that... for a moment you reminded me of someone I cherished very much. In fact, you could say that I feel the same as Shirou does, that you need to be protected."

Illya's face reddened, and she cleared her throat. "Who did I remind you of?"

Saber took a deep breath, wondering whether or not it would be safe to broach this subject. As far as Illya knew her mother had died after she and Kiritsugu had simply disappeared from her life. As distasteful a person as Kiritsugu was, he was not evil. Saber knew that an evil man would not have raised Shirou to be the person he was today. At first, she had been angry at him for making her destroy the grail and causing the fire that had hurt Shirou.

But in truth, she knew that disaster had been partially her fault as well. She had still desired the grail back then, to undo her past mistakes. Her desire was so strong that Excalibur must not have fully destroyed the grail. That disgusting mud.

As soon as she saw that, she should have known that the grail was useless to her, but still, she foolishly held onto her pride.

"You look sad," said Illya, gently.

Saber nodded, "I suppose I am." She brought her hands together and clenched them tightly. "I assume you know I was part of the Fourth Grail War, and Kiritsugu's servant." Illya nodded, and she continued. "It then follows that you are Kiritsugu and Irisviel's daughter. At first I thought that it couldn't possibly be you. You haven't aged a single day. When I saw you with Berserker that night, it may not have shown but I was confused and conflicted. If I had been more focused on the battle, then perhaps Shirou would not have been hurt."

Illya frowned, "That was my fault. I was still..." she paused, searching for the right word. "I don't know, angry... sad I suppose. In pain? It's hard to remember what I was feeling when I was trying really hard not to feel."

"Have you told all this to Shirou?"

Illya shook her head, "No. He's already worried about me enough as it is. Fujimura-sensei knows."

Saber tilted her head, "Fujimura?"

"Yeah." Illya smiled sadly. "One day, after the war was over, I went to see his grave..."

* * *

It was raining that day, so Illya made sure to bring an umbrella. She did not know what she expected as she approached the graveyard. Closure? A sense of peace? All she knew was that she had decided to go there, almost on a whim. She thought of many things as she walked down the path. She thought of waiting for him, her right hand rested on the window of her room. She thought of the grail whispering to her that he hated her and left her all alone. She thought of Beserker, how she had been so scared and hurt by him at first.

She thought of the first time she saw Shirou, and the contradictory feelings that had welled up within her when she laid eyes on him.

She wanted to kill him. She wanted to use Berserker to tear him into pieces. After all the heartache and pain she had suffered under the Einzbern's, each day hoping that her father would return to save her from all of it, she had encountered Shirou Emiya.

A son, to take the place of a useless daughter that Kiritsugu had only pretended to love.

Shirou was the embodiment of everything that had ruined her life.

And yet, as Saber fought her Berserker, a feeling tugged at her heart that she had not felt in a long time.

Love.

It had terrified her at first. But deep down she had been excited to meet her older, or perhaps younger, brother.

When Berserker was defeated, she felt powerless once more.

As a magus and a homunculus, this was of course far from the truth. Illya had always been powerful, but...

That was not always how she had felt.

And then, looking at this helpless and powerless little girl...

Even though she had tried to kill him and his friends time and time again. He showed her kindness. He showed her compassion, even though, by all rights, she had not deserved it.

It reminded her of the time before the war.

It brought back her happy memories, and many, many sad ones as well.

She supposed that's what brought her to the graveyard that day.

Her feet finally stopped, and she stared at the grave in front of her, the wind of the storm rustling the trees and the rain falling against her umbrella. Did she want to say something? She didn't know. She had not brought anything for the grave, and was simply paying it a visit.

"So," she finally said, "Here we are, after all these years."

"Oh, Illya-chan! What are you doing here?"

Illya turned, and saw Taiga approaching from the same path she had just walked down. Illya had not intended for anyone to see her, so she had waited until Shirou had gone to school. As far as she knew, Shirou was the only one who visited, and he did so irregularly. She did not expect to see Taiga there, especially since she was not involved in any of the drama that was going on behind the scenes.

"Fujimura-sensei?"

Taiga waved her hand, "Awww come on you don't have to call me that. Wait a sec, that's not what's important here. Did you know Kiritsugu?"

Illya turned back to the grave and frowned, "My family knew him..."

"Wow! It really is a small world!" Taiga giggled, "Talk about coincidences! How come you haven't told Shirou?"

'This is no coincidence,' she thought, her grip on her umbrella tightening. She did not know whether to feel anger or sadness, but she did not share in Taiga's mirth. "I don't know why I haven't told him."

Illya would never hurt Shirou, but she could not get rid of ten years of bitterness just like that.

It had warped her down to her very soul.

'A soul,' she thought, 'Do I even have... a soul?'

"Ya know, me and Shirou never knew him very well," she stepped forward, and Illya finally noticed that she was carrying a bouquet despite the rain. "He did a lot of things for us. We never really delved into his past too much. We knew he was a big worry wart, so if we started to worry about him as well that would have only added to his stress. That, and he... wasn't exactly in the best condition."

"Wait," said Illya, "What do you mean by that?"

Taiga frowned, as if Illya had brought up something sour, but nonetheless, she answered her question. "I don't know if Shirou knew until later because he was still young, but... Kiritsugu was very sick, and he didn't have a lot of time. I talked about it with him one time, and he said I shouldn't worry, but I could tell... then, one night, while he was talking with Shirou, he..." Taiga bit her bottom lip, and clenched her eyes, as if to hold back tears.

Illya had never seen her like this.

Then Taiga grinned, as if the expression of pain had never been on her face at all. "He told me I should just keep being myself, and that people needed me to smile, so that's what I'm gonna keep doing!"

Illya did not know what to say. Maybe he didn't come to the mansion because...

No, he abandoned her, didn't he?

"Fujimura-sensei. Did Kiritsugu ever... do anything strange?"

She brought a hand to her chin. "Anything strange? Hmmm, now that I think about it he was gone an awful lot. Sometimes he wouldn't come back for weeks at a time. He said that what he was doing was very important, but something always stuck with me that I never really got an answer for."

Illya hesitated. She had a feeling that if she were to delve any further, her entire world would be shattered in an instant.

But she had to know. She had to know this one last thing.

"What was it that bothered you?" she asked.

It felt like the question had not actually been uttered, but Taiga turned to her to answer again.

"He said he wanted to bring one more person back with him. I never found out who it was, but..." she looked at the grave, "It seemed like there was one last thing that he never got to do."

That was all it took.

Illya's umbrella clattered to the ground, and was carried away by the wind.

"I... Illya! What's wrong?!"

Illya felt liquid cascade down her cheeks, and she fell to her knees as ten years worth of tears came pouring out at once. She brought her hands to her face, beginning to sob as a pain she had not felt in a long time was pulled to the surface of her heart.

Taiga stepped forward, hesitant at first, but she knelt down and wrapped her arms around the crying girl.

Over and over again as she cried, Illya whispered, "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."

* * *

Saber's expression had softened as Illya had relayed the events of that day to her.

"Sometimes," said Illya, "It feels like I'm the biggest idiot in the world."

Saber stood from her seat, and Illya raised an eyebrow. She walked around the table and sat next to Illya, wrapping a comforting arm around her. "I'm sorry that we did not have this chance before. I should have been more sure of myself about who you were."

Illya smiled and leaned into Saber's shoulder. "It's okay. My Berserker didn't know how to read the mood anyways, so it probably would have ended in a fight regardless."

Saber nodded, "Indeed. Despite my life being on the line, it was a good experience fighting such a powerful opponent."

"Hey Saber?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you... for protecting Mama and Papa, and Onii-chan while I was gone."

"You are very welcome Illya."

They stayed like that, in silence, for a long while.

Thinking about the past, and the future that awaited them.

* * *

After school, Shirou met Rin and Sakura by the lockers. It was routine at this point, but Shirou was finding it extremely challenging to get used to the stares that they got.

They really did make quite the group. An ex archery club member who was viewed as the lackey of the student council, the school idol who got perfect grades, and the shy archery club captain that you would think had nothing at all to do with Rin Tohsaka. However, despite all preconceptions, there they were, getting ready to walk home together. "Nee-san says we need to stop by the grocery store on the way back."

"More ingredients?" asked Shirou, "Come on, don't you have enough?"

Rin huffed, "Well excuse me Mr. Swordsmith. I don't see you studying the biology books."

"That's because you're hogging them all the time. I wanna help Illya too!"

"I'm the most skilled in the house! I'm the best one for the job, so just concentrate on your training!"

"How can I do that when half of my training regiment has her nose buried in a text book?!"

Sakura, ever the mediator, stepped forward, "Um... Senpai, Nee-san, please don't argue."

Rin pinched the bridge of her nose and lowered her voice so the crowd of students couldn't hear her, "Whatever. If you wanna help Illya so bad start by expanding your repertoire. Since I'm a bit busy to teach you at the moment you should probably talk to Illya. I'm sure she has all sorts of neat tricks to show you. Besides, it will be a while yet before you can produce an effective Gandr."

Shirou flinched at the underhanded jab, "Come on. It's not for lack of trying."

Sakura brought a hand to her chest, "Um... you're much better now Senpai," she said softly. "You maintain your prana a lot better than you used to. Saber doesn't have to worry about not having energy."

Rin nodded, "Sakura is right. You're so worried about learning new spells that you've completely disregarded the progress you've already made. You've learned your affinity, you can cast a basic offensive spell, you can maintain a constant flow of mana for yourself and Saber, and you can use a reality marble. A lot of mages would KILL to be able to do half of what you could do." She poked him in the forehead, "So stop rushing things, idiot."

Shirou frowned, "Alright, already."

Rin smirked, "Illya said she has at least a year and a half. That's plenty of time to figure out what's going on and do something about it. We're not in the Holy Grail War anymore, so try to take some time to relax too, okay?"

"Yeah, you're right," he said, nodding firmly. "I've just been worried is all."

"Geez, you spend too much time worrying about other people and not enough time worrying about yourself."

"Sheeeeeeero!"

Rin's entire world stopped in that one moment.

At the door to the school, drawing all attention to herself, stood Luvia. Before Rin could process what was happening she had already run to Shirou and grasped both his hands with a radiant smile on her face. "It's been so long!"

Shirou's face went red, "Y... yeah."

"Hey!" shouted Rin, prying Luvia away from him and shoving her back, "This isn't London, you can't just get all touchy feely with people!"

Luvia brought a hand to her mouth, "Oh my, I didn't realize there was a gorilla going to this school."

"Why you..." Rin made to charge forward, but Sakura grabbed her from behind.

"No, you'll ruin your reputation at school Nee-san!"

Luvia chuckled, "Wow! The gorilla had a little sister. Truly the spitting image."

Ever since six months ago, Sakura had been much more open with her emotions. Yes, she was still mostly shy and reserved. After all, old habits die hard. However, there was something about the Grail's taint influencing her, and everything that came after, that made her want to open up to the people around her.

This was mostly a good thing, such as confessing to Shirou, even though she had been turned down. She also managed to patch things up very well with her older sister, who, for her part, was very happy with how close their relationship had become.

She was also more open about her negative emotions.

This was healthier for her. After all, bottling everything up and trying to put on a mask was what got her into the mess with the grail in the first place. She had learned that it was okay to feel angry, and that it was okay to cry.

Unfortunately for Luviagelita Edelfelt, who could not use magic to defend herself in public during broad daylight, this meant that Sakura was now angry with her.

Sakura released her grip on her sister, who immediately lurched forward and started throwing punches.

Shirou's jaw dropped, "S... Sakura! Why did you just let her go like that?"

"Oh I'm sorry," said Sakura with a giggle, "My grip must have slipped."

Shirou frowned, "T... two Tohsakas."

 **-Clock Tower-**

Yvette was growing impatient. Gregori could tell. However, it would all come to a head soon enough, and playing his trump card too early could end in disaster.

Besides, today was the council hearing, and Lillian would be there with her servant Archer.

He felt like seeing her one last time, searing her cocky smirk into his memory, so that he could enjoy it all the more when he broke her.

That would come later, though. For now, he had a hearing to attend... and travel plans to finish.


End file.
